Pepetela

Born in Benguela, Angola, Pepetela fought as an MPLA guerrilla from 1969 to 1975, seeing front-line service against the armies of Portugal and apartheid South Africa, as well as rival rebel groups. After Angolan independence, he was Deputy inister of Education (1976-82) and taught sociology at Agostinho Neto University (1984-2008). Awarded the Camões Prize, the Portuguese language's highest literary award, for his life's work, Pepetela is the author of twenty-one novels, which have won prizes in Holland, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and Angola, and have been published in more than twenty languages. He lives in Luanda, Angola.